A senior U.S. official denied a report that Israel was likely being behind the placement of devices in the vicinity of the White House that can capture cellphone calls.

The story “is completely false. Absolutely false,” Noga Tarnopolsky, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, quoted the official as saying.

#Breaking: A senior administration official told the Los Angeles Times the POLITICO story "is completely false. Absolutely false. I checked."

— Noga Tarnopolsky (@NTarnopolsky) September 12, 2019

The initial report appeared in an article published Thursday by Politico, which cited three unnamed former senior officials with “knowledge of the matter.”

Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, vigorously denied the report. Israel has pledged since the 1986 capture of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard not to spy on the United States, although since then there have been multiple instances of the countries accusing the other of spying, however.